TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a member of a criminal syndicate over the alleged swindle of an elderly man last year, reports TBS News (Nov. 5).
According to police, Ryota Terakado is a 29-year-old member of the Yamaguchi-gumi. He is also a suspected member of a fraud ring that has swindled 11 persons in eight prefectures out of around 40 million yen.
In September of last year, another member of the fraud ring posed as a lawyer in telephoning a 68-year-old man living in Gifu Prefecture. “It is necessary to pay settlement money,” the caller falsely told the man.
The ring then collected 2 million yen in cash from the man.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of fraud, Terakado denied the allegations. “I didn’t do it,” the suspect was quoted by the Kameari Police Station.
Terakado’s role was to send a letter in the mail to the man in Gifu before the telephone call was made. The letter content of the letter indicated that it was a “final notice regarding nonpayment of fees,” police said.
